Lye gym boss Jim Charles hopes Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back for celebration

May 13 2008 By Steve Johnson

BEEFY Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzennegger has been invited to join in the golden jubilee celebrations of a famous Midland gym.

Champion bodybuilders have rolled off the production line at the Lye Amateur Body Building Club, more popularly known as Jim’s Gym.

Owner Jim Charles, who has been running the gym for 50 years, met a teenage Schwarzennegger way back in 1966 when he was setting off on the road to fame by entering the Mr Universe contests.

Jim, aged 69, has written to Schwarzennegger, now Governor of California, inviting him to a special celebration event on Sunday.

Jim is staging the Midland Body Building Championships at Brierley Hill Civic Hall, with the event being followed by a bumper birthday party at Tiffins restaurant in Lye.

Jim, a council member with the National Amateur Body Building Association, said he had unearthed some top bodybuilders from the area over the years, as well as overseas.

"Schwarzennegger has been the biggest name I have come across in all the years I have been in this business," he said.

"He was just 19 when I met him and I knew he was destined for big things. I have met him a few times down the years and it would be fantastic if he surprised us all and turned up at the weekend," added Jim, whose daughter Jane celebrates her 30th birthday on Sunday.

The championships are being held from 2pm to 6pm and the region’s top musclemen will be taking part. Jim’s Gym has been based in Chapel Street, Lye, for 43 years, having been for the first seven years in High Street, Wordsley.